The Township of Winslow was created by an act of the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey on March 8, 1845. The first town meeting was held at the inn of Josiah Albertson in Blue Anchor on the second Wednesday of March in the same year. The new township, created from a part of Gloucester Township, contains 57.4 square miles. The inn was named, naturally, the Blue Anchor Inn and was located on Route 73 in the center of the dual highway in the vicinity of St. Lucy's Church.

Winslow Township encompasses a large area - approximately 58 square miles. Consequently, the history or background of the township is really comprised of the history of many smaller villages, such as...

• Bates Mill / Waterford Works
• Albion
• Russelltown / New Brooklyn
• Winslow
• Tansboro
• Sicklerville
• Cedar Brook
• Ancora
• Elm
• Braddock
• Blue Anchor
• Wilton / Williamstown Junction

 

Early Businesses and Trades
Established businesses in the 1700's were The Blue Anchor Tavern and a sawmill on the Egg Harbor River.

In 1833, it was documented that Winslow had a glass factory owned by William Coffin and Andrew Hay (Winslow Village was named after William Cofffin's youngest son). By 1865, the factory employed 400 people. In 1892, it was destroyed by fire.

Tansboro was the location of a tannery owned by C. Tice and J. Venibe.

Another glass factory was located in Wilton. J.L. Mason leased the facility in 1856 and manufactured fruit jars. When operating to capacity, the facility employed 100 people.

In 1880, Waterford and Winslow were considered wilderness regions. Its population was about 4000 residents, who lived mostly on remote farms.

Blue Anchor
One of the oldest settlements in Winslow Township occurred in Blue Anchor at a point where an old Indian trail crossed through the swamp. In 1726, the first cedar tract was cleared in the township. Soon after, the first proprietary business in the area was established - a tavern made out of cedar logs.

Timber was plentiful in the region and John Inskip erected a sawmill on the Great Egg Harbor River. It was at this point on the Great Egg Harbor River that a public ford was erected around 1762. The Indians would stop and camp here overnight as they traveled between Indian villages of Shamong and Tuckahoe.